Peter King: Vol. 15

Pete does a pretty solid job covering the Wild Card weekend, but I had a few quick hits.

I'm actually starting to like Deion Sanders on TV. I know that'll rankle some peers, but he's confident, he's opinionated, he backs up opinions with good arguments (some of which I think are bunk, but who cares?), and he's good at the sound-bite game.

[Wait. So are his arguments good or bunk? I'm confused.]

I think Brett Favre is perilously close to leaving the game -- for good, this time -- and disappearing into a Mississippi deer stand for a long time.

[Why "perilously" close? Dude is washed up. If he returns, the Jets would be periously close to missing the playoffs again (they will in any event, but you get the point).]

Favre also told me he declined to have right biceps surgery, even though Jets doctors advised him to have the surgery if he thought he was going to play football in 2009.

[What do they know. They're only doctors.]

The fact he didn't choose to have the surgery, however, isn't a definite indicator that he's retiring, because a similar injury to his left biceps once went away without surgery in Green Bay.

[That biceps injury "went away?" Favre = a magic healer.]

I don't know why Adrian Peterson, ridden hard all season, didn't touch the ball on the last 16 Viking plays of the season. Not that it would have mattered much, most likely, but he's your horse, Vikes. Ride him.

[Because it... wouldn't have mattered...?]

ESPN's Chris Mortensen had a great nugget on Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski being told if he interviewed for the Jets job to just keep walking and not come back. That's a ridiculous demand by Boston College, unless there's a clause in his contract that the coach cannot interview for NFL jobs, which I don't believe exists.

[Odds that Pete has actually reviewed the contract in question??]

Caught "Bobby," the Bobby Kennedy assassination movie. Compelling and interesting. Emilio Estevez is smart.

[Ha. Great point to finish on. Emilio!]

Peter King: Vol. 11

Tell me that this isn't a weird exchange between Pete and one of his readers:

From Scott, of Providence: "I'm amazed at how little attention Matt Cassel's performace in the wake of his father's passing received on a national level. When Brett Favre had a similiar performance in Oakland, albeit on Monday night, the national media went nuts, he was this great warrior, etc. Yet, today, Cassel gets a small note in the middle of a webpage. Not that Cassel's performance needs to be the lead story for the day, but the disparity is ridiculous. Another great day in the National Favre League."

Pete:
Favre was a legendary quarterback when his tragedy happened, Cassel a first-year starter. Favre's father was a relatively known character; Big Irv coached him in high school and was around him for much of his pro life. Favre's father died 26 hours before the Packers took the field in Oakland, and there was some real question in coach Mike Sherman's mind if Favre would play in the game. In the Cassel case, the dad died six days before the game, Cassel flew to southern California to be with the family when it happened and returned to the team to practice, and we never saw Cassel struggling with the kind of emotion Favre struggled with either before or after the game.

[So to summarize, in order for the death of your father to garner sympathy from Pete and the sports media at large, the following conditions must be met:

- You have to be "legendary," preferably as a quarterback (as opposed to the "Wilt Chamberlain" sense of the word). One lonely MVP award will not cut it.
- Your father had to have had a folksy nickname.
- Your father had to have died within 26 hours of your next game.
- You have to struggle with some "kind of emotion" before AND after the game.]

Stay classy, Pete.

Let the Dramatically-Overstated Favre Love Resume!

Look, I like Brett Favre. I think he belongs in the Hall of Fame when he finally retires for good in 2018. He has performed well for the Jets so far this season, including last night. But C'MON already! I have gotten peppered with "I told you Favre was the greatest ever" messages from J-E-T-S fans since last night's game. And, as expected, there were a host of "Favre should be sainted/knighted" media takes this morning. Let's pick one from Gary Myers at the Daily News.

Jets' victory over Patriots validates trade for Brett Favre.

[Really? 6-3 is all you guys wanted when you made that trade?]

It was one of the most important and incredible victories in the Jets' 49-year history....

[That can't be true, can it? Well I know that the "incredible" part isn't true. When you are up 24-6 on a team that's active roster looks like that of an NFL Europe squad..... well, maybe it's just me, but you should probably win that one going away.]

[Favre's] won more games than any quarterback in NFL history. He's won a Super Bowl, he's won playoff games, he's won overtime games....

[Exactly. So this one logically falls in line somewhere behind those. This is a solid win against a division rival in the middle of November. I'm sure Brett will put it in prospective and not dwell or absurdly over-emphasize its historic-ness (or lack thereof).]

...but he immediately put what happened last night very high on his list of greatest victories. "Right now, it feels like the top," he said.

[Sounds about right.]

After losing 11 of their last 12 against New England, the Jets were just sick of being pushed around by the Patriots.

[You know what else the Jets were? MORE TALENTED THAN THE PATRIOTS. This chest-thumping account of the game is ill-advised and misleading. Did you see the Pats' inactive list for last night's game? Tom Brady, Laurence Maroney, Adalius Thomas, Rodney Harrison, Ty Warren, etc. So spare me the David-and-Goliath undertone.]